An Olde Fashioned Christmas
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on December 18, 2016 1:45 AM
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Full SizeA little girl's doll small enough to fit in two hands has a cardboard tube body and a dress is made of taffeta. Although the frail little doll is falling apart, it most likely gave much joy to a little girl back in the Civil War era.
The doll is the oldest item in a new exhibit at the Wayne County Museum, "An Olde Fashioned Christmas." It will run through the middle of January.
The holiday exhibit contains toys from bygone days, children's vintage clothing and other old items.
Some are from the museum's collection, such as toy trucks, some of the dolls, a toy horse and high chairs. But 60 to 70 percent of the items in the exhibit are on loan from people in the community, like photos, clothing, some toys, children's games and books.
"We always do an exhibit for the holidays," said the museum's executive director Rebekah Fitzgerald. "This is why we have this exhibit.
"It's fun. Plus we have a lot of things here at the museum that we could pull out for the exhibit. We try to use what we have as much as possible."
"It's an old museum, and we wanted to display old things -- and it's Christmas," said museum volunteer Betty Duncan. She oversaw the planning of the exhibit and its setup.
"We thought old toys would be great, but we didn't think we'd get enough old toys to fill an exhibit, so we also did vintage clothing for children," Mrs. Duncan said.
Some of the other old, old toys are stuffed animals by Steiff that are from the early 1900s. They are on loan from Wendy and Denny Town.
"They're certainly well loved," Mrs. Duncan said. "I just didn't realize that back in the early 1900s, they had stuffed animals that looked so realistic."
The collection includes an elephant with a big cat on its back and two tigers.
There's also an old Chinese checkers board loaned by Irene Morris. It is cardboard with a wooden frame and has dragons painted on it.
One case contains old toy trucks. There are a few firetrucks, a front end loader, a couple of cranes and a bulldozer.
Other cases are loaded with children's old books, like "The Secret at Hermitage," "The Dana Girls Mystery Stories," "The Secret of the Old Clock," "The Secret in the Attic," a Nancy Drew mystery story and some "Bobsey Twins" books.
If you want to get an idea of what children wore years and years ago, you'll find lots of vintage children's clothing in the exhibit.
Like the little dresses that girls used to wear.
"I think the cutest things are the child's gloves and stockings," Ms. Fitzgerald said. "They're so tiny. I love them.
"We also have children's old shoes."
One little girl's dress is accessorized with a tiny blue change purse. Another comes with a little red purse with a silver handle and two tiny silver animals on the front.
The children's vintage clothing items are personalized with doll faces that were painted by Wendy and Denny Town especially for the exhibit.
Some of the other vintage items include a miniature Singer sewing machine from the 1850s, a hand-stitched doll from 1875, a wind-up dog toy from 1900, Bisque dolls from the late 19th century and an old doll carriage.
Ms. Fitzgerald said some of the toys reflect how children grew up fast in past years.
"Pre-19th and 20th century, children weren't children very long," she said. "Children were children and then they were adults. They didn't have those in between years like they do now. They were small versions of adults and that's how they were treated."
In addition to old toys, clothing and other items, "An Olde Fashioned Christmas" exhibit contains some newer items, too. There's a 1980s model airplane, on loan from Jeff Westbrook.
"It has a motor and the propellers turn," Mrs. Duncan said. "It's just very cool."
There are also reproductions of an old firetruck and a yellow taxi that are big enough for children to ride in.
And in the center of the exhibit is a tall Christmas tree.
Pat Biggers, with the help of Shari Watkins, strung popcorn and cranberries and made red and green paper chains to decorate the tree. The local model railroad club donated a model train that runs around the tree.
"It was exciting putting everything together," Ms. Fitzgerald said. "There's something magical about the holiday season. It only comes once a year, so we try to make it as exciting and enjoyable as possible."
Mrs. Duncan said the exhibit is happening at a good time of the year, when people get nostalgic.
"I hope visitors get a feeling of nostalgia for Christmases of the past," Ms. Fitzgerald said. "I hope they share that with younger generations. Christmas has changed, times change. I think it's important to understand that whole process."
Exhibit hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. School groups and others may also make an appointment to view the exhibit during other hours.
The exhibit is free.